1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sun visors for vehicles, and, in particular, to a sun visor having a rounded edge along at least a portion of the periphery thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the past several decades, automobile designs have become safer in many respects, one of which relates to the interior compartment the driver and passengers occupy. Specifically, the design of dash boards, steering wheels, handles, control knobs and other interior components has become smoother and softer. Generally speaking, hard, protruding surfaces have been replaced with softer, rounded surfaces wherever possible. One interior component which has undergone such improvements is the sun visor.
One sun visor design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,118 (Crotty, III), owned by the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference. The design disclosed in the ""118 patent involves an outer cover assembly, which folds unto itself and sandwiches a core member therebetween. The exterior cover assembly is made of a cloth or vinyl upholstery covering, which is adhesively bonded to a semi-rigid foundation, typically formed of kraft paper. The upholstery cover is made larger than the foundation and thereby folds around the edges of the foundation. Thus, when the sun visor is folded in half, the outer edges of the cover assembly are sandwiched together and define the profile of the sun visor. The core member is disposed between the foundation halves and connects to a rod, which in turn connects to the interior headliner of the vehicle.
A disadvantage associated with such known sun visor designs is that, because portions must be cut out of the foundation to accommodate the visor clip support and visor clip pin, the upholstery cover must be stretched and pulled through these cut out portions during manufacture of the sun visor.
Another known sun visor design involves a cardboard butterfly inner support which is covered with a decorative material. The butterfly is folded to form opposing edges, and a foam urethane adhesive is used to both bind the sides of the butterfly together and to secure the decorative material in place. The foam adhesive contacts the edge of the decorative material contained within the folded butterfly and fixes it in place. As the foam adhesive cures, it expands to form a rigid foam member which forms a stiffening member for the visor.
There are several problems associated with the use of foam adhesives in the assembly of sun visors. For instance, foam adhesives expand during the application process, thus causing the foam adhesive to seep outside the edges of the sun visor when the butterfly is folded to form opposing sides. This results in not only a messy application, but also results in the foam adhesive coming into contact with, and possibly staining or discoloring the decorative material, which covers the exterior surface of the sun visor assembly.
The rigidity exhibited by foam adhesives also creates a disadvantage when used in the assembly of sun visors. When force is exerted upon a sun visor assembled with a foam adhesive stiffening member, the foam adhesive stiffening member and/or the surface upon which it is applied are likely to crack and break rather than bend.
A further problem associated with the use of foam adhesives is that they typically require mixing by an impingement mixer. An impingement mixer is extremely costly and requires a great deal of maintenance, therefore resulting in a higher cost of production for sun visors assembled using foam adhesives.
It is desirable to improve upon the above-referenced designs.
The present invention provides a sun visor having a rounded member that partially defines the outer periphery of the sun visor. The rounded member avoids the undesirable bifurcated shape of the edge formed when two cover halves of a foldable foundation are sandwiched together, as occurs in prior art sun visors. A non-expanding adhesive is applied around the interior periphery of the foundation, intermediate the foundation halves, and bonds the halves together. The non-expanding adhesive provides a sun visor assembly which is flexible enough to bend under the application of pressure, yet rigid enough to perform its desired function. Additionally, the non-expanding adhesive utilized in the present invention is viscous, making it convenient and non-messy to use when assembling the sun visor.
The basic design of a sun visor as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,118 has certain advantages in terms of production costs, functionality and reliability. Moreover, the design disclosed in the ""118 patent has gained a solid reputation throughout the automotive industry. However, international authorities have recently promulgated regulations which impose design constraints on sun visors. One particular restriction requires the contactable edges of non-rigid parts to have a radius of not less than 3.2 mm. Such a requirement poses a design problem with the type of sun visor disclosed in the ""118 patent, which problem is addressed by the present invention.
In one form thereof, the present invention provides a sun visor assembly comprising a substantially flat foundation folded unto itself thereby forming two foundation halves. The halves have corresponding shapes that define an edge of the sun visor. An upholstery cover covers the foundation and forms an exterior surface of the sun visor. A bead member is attached to the foundation and is positioned proximate the edge, the bead member comprising a rounded member whose surface comprises a substantially semicircular cross section. The surface faces away from the sun visor, whereby the edge comprises a radius.
In another form thereof, the bead member further comprises a stem member extending from the rounded member, the stem member having a substantially flat surface disposed adjacent one of the halves and connected thereto. The stem member comprises a stake extending therefrom, the stake extending through the one half and heat fused thereto, whereby the stake secures the bead member to the foundation.
In another form, the stem member comprises a pair of stem members, a first one of the pair abutting the first half and a second one of the pair abutting the second half More preferably, the first and said second ones of the pair of stem members abut outside surfaces of the foundation halves.
In another form thereof, the present invention provides a sun visor assembly comprising a substantially flat foundation folded unto itself thereby forming two foundation halves. The halves have corresponding shapes that define an edge of the sun visor. An upholstery cover extends over the foundation and forms an exterior surface of the sun visor. A non-expanding adhesive is applied around the interior periphery of the foundation, intermediate the foundation halves. The adhesive bonds the foundation halves together.
In another form thereof, the present invention provides a sun visor assembly comprising a substantially flat foundation that includes a pair of discreet foundation halves. A core member is disposed between the foundation halves and includes a bead member positioned proximate the edge of the core member.
In another form thereof, the present invention provides a sun visor assembly comprising a substantially flat foundation member defining a first side of the sun visor assembly. A core member defines a second side of the sun visor assembly and includes an integral clip assembly for attaching the sun visor assembly to the roof of a vehicle. The second side of the sun visor assembly is opposite the first side of the sun visor assembly and the core member is attached to the foundation member.
In yet another form thereof, the present invention provides a sun visor assembly comprising a substantially flat foundation folded unto itself, thereby forming two foundation halves. The halves have substantially corresponding shapes that define an edge of the sun visor. A core member is disposed between the foundation halves and includes an integral clip assembly for attaching the sun visor assembly to the roof of a vehicle.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a sun visor having a rounded periphery which is safer for the occupant of the vehicle.
Another advantage of the present invention is that its design is compatible with prior art sun visor designs and manufacturing processes. Thus, the sun visor provided by the present invention is cost effective to produce.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the use of the non-expanding adhesive allows for the neat and convenient production of the sun visor assembly. Because the adhesive of the present invention is non-expanding and viscous, it does not flow out of the sun visor assembly when the sun visor assembly is clamped together. While the adhesive does elongate and come into contact with the edge of the upholstery which is folded around the periphery of the foundation, it does not increase in volume in the manner that foam adhesives do.
Another advantage offered by the use of the non-expanding adhesive is that the adhesive is very tolerant of temperature fluctuations, allowing the visor assembly process to be carried out over a wide range of temperature and humidity conditions. Additionally, the inventors have found that the non-expanding adhesive sticks better to kraft paper and to upholstery than does the foaming adhesive.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that the use of the non-expanding adhesive allows for a sun visor assembly having a relatively high degree of flexibility, thus allowing the sun visor assembly to bend rather than break upon the application of pressure. The non-expanding adhesive exhibits a modulus stretch of at least 30%, making it an ideal adhesive for application to a sun visor assembly.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the use of non-expanding adhesive does not require the use of expensive mixing equipment, as does the foam adhesive used previously.
A further advantage of the non-expanding adhesive of the present invention is that it is non-wicking, meaning that should it come into contact with one side of the upholstery, it will not stain or discolor the reverse side of the upholstery.
An advantage of a core member that defines an integral visor clip and visor support pin is the simplification of the manufacturing process of the sun visor assembly. Specifically, with such a construction, there is no need to cut an opening in the foundation for the visor clip or the visor support pin, and therefore no need to stretch and pull the edge portion of the upholstery cover through the cut out portions therein.